


Neighborly Baking Endeavor

by tatianaluz



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 18:36:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3947398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatianaluz/pseuds/tatianaluz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which James is homesick and just wants to bake a cake like his nan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Neighborly Baking Endeavor

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this fic as part of a gift for my sister's birthday. I'm surprised that my first fic is related to a team I don't even follow (Arsenal is where it's at). I'm also surprised that this pairing even came up, but it seems logical anyway. Kudos and comments are much appreciated.

James was having a difficult morning. Difficult was a bit of an understatement. He put whole milk in a latte that specifically called for soy. He knew this drink needed soy. It had been this way for months now. The woman was a regular, for goodness sake.

But James had a good reason. See, he’d been homesick as of late, being several hours away from home. He just started revising for an exam, and the all-nighter did nothing for his already distracted state. James tried explaining as much to the customer. He failed to gain sympathy.

“No! I don’t want to hear it! Did they not teach you to _read_ the damn cartons of milk?!”

James didn’t know how to react. He stood frozen behind the counter. He felt a pair of hands on his shoulder before he was gently moved to the side.

"Why don't you head to the back? I’ll deal with her.” Daley gave a small smile before turning to said customer. James didn’t think twice before leaving the café through the back door. He was sure that that wasn’t entirely what Daley had meant by “heading to the back”, but Daley and his beautifully golden locks could handle the morning rush on their own. David was due to clock in at any minute anyway. They wouldn’t care.

Except that they would care. Now he felt even worse. No matter, he would just go to the grocery store. Cake would cure his homesickness. Maybe it could win favor with his coworkers too.

***

"What the hell?" The awkward teen jingled the key back and forth in the lock. This was the last thing he needed to deal with today. James had spotted David on his way to the supermarket, and the guilt he felt from skipping out intensified. Not to mention that his calculus exam was tomorrow and not next week as he had thought. This left very little time for baking, especially when he couldn’t even open his own door.

It didn’t help that James could feel the neighbor’s eyes watching him.

“Mira,” started…Angelo? Angel? James had a hard time remembering names. In fact, he was rather shit at it. But that wasn’t his greatest concern. He let out a sigh before turning back to his neighbor across the hall.

“That…it is no—” Angelo? (No, Angel. Definitely Angel) finished the sentence by gesturing to the door.

James could only furrow his eyebrows in response.

He was about to turn back and attempt to turn the key again when the Argentinian spoke again.

“It is no you door.”

The blond could only look at him with further confusion. “Uh, yes—si es mi…apartment”. This whole situation was getting lost in translation. He couldn’t really blame his neighbor though: Angel was trying to communicate with him in English. Perhaps James should brush up on his Spanish.

James then set his bags on the floor. He’d been there a while now, and they were beginning to get heavy. He gripped the doorknob and braced himself for the unlocking battle that would ensue. The blond began turning the knob and the key simultaneously in hopes that the door would magically decide to open now, as opposed to the five minutes prior.

He heard to click of the door unlocking. He was about to celebrate, when the door was ripped open. James jolted forward with the door and ran into…a person?

Upon stepping back, he found that he had, in fact, run into a person. Said person was a brunet who went by the name of Ander. James didn’t know much about this Ander, but he knew that he didn’t have access to his apartment. James looked to the right of him. The number on the door read 4…B. Shit.

He barely registered having the key handed back to him. The blond man stuck the key in his pocket before rushing to pick up his groceries.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I thought—” James swallowed hard and quickly turned away. He figured that he had embarrassed himself enough. There was no need to add to it.

Only it wasn’t enough because, just as he was reaching his own apartment (one door down), the cheap plastic bag tore open. Food rained down from the bag and onto the floor. The eggs he had gotten for the cake fell with everything else. The yellow of the yokes showed that they couldn’t be saved.

James bit his lip as tears came to his eyes. There was no way that he was going to let his neighbors see him cry. Had he not been having the worst day ever, James would have laughed at how easily the door unlocked. Instead he threw the door open with enough force to have it bounce off the wall slightly. The food that hadn’t made a mess outside his apartment was nudged inside with his foot. He then took long strides to the kitchen, where he grabbed a roll of paper towels. James then rubbed his eyes on his way back to the door.

While he was glad that Angel had gone back to his own apartment, James was surprised to find Ander in the hall with his own roll of paper towels. He should have thanked him, but he was still on the verge of tears. Plus, he was perfectly capable of cleaning this on his own like an adult, thank you very much.

He told Ander as much. “I got this. Thank you.”

James crouched down to the carton of eggs on the floor and proceeded to pick up the destruction of protein that littered the carpet. He ignored the small frown that Ander gave him.

He tried gripping an egg with the paper towel. James hand closed tightly when the egg began to slip. Of course, this was too tightly, as it caused the egg to crack even further. This made James’ resolve crack with it. He threw himself back, letting out a small sob as he sat in the hallway.

James pulled his knees to his chest. He cried for a few more moments, when he felt a sturdy hand rubbing his back. He peeked to the side to see his brunet neighbor beside him. The roll of paper towels was in his other hand.

James was about to ask what he had been doing there, when Ander interrupted him.

“Why don’t you head inside? I’ll clean this up.” He shook the paper towel, as if to say _See, I’m prepared_. James followed his neighbor’s instructions with some uncertainty. He lingered for second before heading back into his apartment.

He sat himself on the couch and turned on the TV, not even bothering to close the door behind him. Though, now, he was more focused on the thought of Ander cleaning than he had been on the show currently playing. This was the second time he had been sent away after making a mess of things. It was embarrassing. He was living on his own, but couldn’t pick up goddamn eggs.

The brunet grabbed at the cracked eggshells with the upmost concentration. He was careful enough to not cause further cracking, but firm enough to keep it from slipping out of his hands. What Ander had was…experience? Well, maybe he just wasn’t so much of a walking disaster as James.

It would be important to point out that James did not, in any way, feel any sort of disappointment when Ander disappeared down the hall. He was about to get up and close his door when Ander reappeared. However, his neighbor chose to stand outside, waiting to be invited into the already open apartment.

“I, um” Ander passed a hand through his hair “I just went and locked my door. Maybe you can use some company?” He noticed a carton of eggs in his other hand.

James thought that he should at least get up from the couch, but chose to wave his neighbor inside. Ander gave a small grin at the invitation and gently closed the door behind him. Does he do everything so carefully?

James kept his eyes on Ander, who was making his way towards him. He was curious to find that Ander paid little attention to the items around him—James had always looked at the little odds and ends of the places he was visiting for the first time. Instead, the brunet seemed to only focus on the blond. He reached James in a few, easy, steps. Ander then took a seat to the left of James. His brown eyes then looked at James quizzically, carton of eggs resting on his lap.

Ander cleared his throat before speaking. “So. What is on your…erhm…mind?” Ander then pointed to his head in a form of clarification.

James chose that exact moment to look down at the couch. Mostly because a tear had sprung up again, but also because he had caught himself staring at Ander. He let out a sniffle.

“I’m just lonely, I suppose. Homesick.” The teen picked at the lint on his navy blue couch. He saw his neighbor turn his head toward the TV, leaning back on the couch seconds later. He looked up at the ceiling before giving a small nod in understanding.

“It is hard, being away from home.”

James rubbed at his eyes again. “Yeah it’s really hard.”

He was sure that Ander hadn’t heard him. His response had hardly been above a whisper. He continued to speak anyway.

“It’s just, I just wanted to make the cake like my nan does” James mentioned, gesturing to the eggs. “She makes the best cake.”

James leaned his head back, letting out a shaky breath. Why was he getting so worked up about this? He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt Ander move from the couch. James had opened his mouth to apologize (for what, being too emotional?) but smiled when he discovered that his neighbor had walked into the kitchen, carefully removing utensils from his cabinet.

***

James told Ander all about his terrible day and they gathered the rest of the things needed for baking. James was happy to see that Ander didn’t need his help reaching into the higher cabinets. He certainly didn’t miss reaching for everything when his mother was cooking.

The blond also spoke about how ridiculous he felt about the whole day: he should be more responsible at work. He should have started revising earlier. Ander gave some simple advice about just apologizing and studying as soon as they had finished baking. The brunet’s advice seemed over simplified to James, but he trusted it anyway. He appeared experienced enough.

“What about your family?”

James continued with greasing the bundt cake pan. “I’ve got my mum and my dad, older brother, and my nan.”

“The nan with a good cake recipe.” Ander stated, grabbing the milk from James’ fridge. “Why don’t you visit them, if you miss them so much?”

The blond considered this for a moment. “Well, they are paying the rent here, so I figure that I ought to stay here as often as possible. Would be dumb if they paid for an empty apartment.”

Ander gave him a questioning look.

James concentrated on getting into every corner of the pan. “Besides, I need to make the most out of the uni experience.” Not even James was convinced with his own statement.

“Go visit them. They probably miss you too.” James could only give a small hum in response.

The brunet changed topics “What flavor of cake is this supposed to be?”

“Lemon”. James barely caught Ander say ‘I hate lemon’. He also let out a soft groan. James let out a loud laugh. Ander’s cheeks became red, finding that James heard him, and he replied with a shrug.

“I’ll help anyway. I like baking.” There was something in Ander’s eyes that said that baking wasn’t the reason for staying.

James smiled back. “Next time, we’ll make a dessert you like.” He noticed that the brunet stopped stirring the batter. He felt his face getting hot. Ander’s eyes remained wide for a few moments.

“Okay.” Ander gave a curt nod. “Mi abuelita makes the best arroz con dulce.”

James grinned “I have no idea what that is.”

Ander let out a louder groan this time, before speaking of the great tragedy of the English not being aware of Spanish cuisine. He joked about needing to teach James about the beauty of Spanish culture. James would be perfectly content with that, so long as he got to see him again.


End file.
